MUMBAI, July 31 - The Indian rupee edged higher on Friday pulling further away from one-week lows touched in the previous session as gains in Asian shares raised expectations for capital inflows into the local market. * At 9:03 a.m. the partially convertible rupee was at 48.24/25 per dollar, stronger than its close of 48.35/36 on Thursday, when it had dropped to as low as 48.58 during trade, its weakest since July 22. * Global stocks rallied and oil surged more than 5 percent on Thursday as solid corporate results worldwide and encouraging economic data boosted sentiment that had turned skittish earlier in the week. [ID:nN3067300] * Nifty stock futures in Singapore were up 1.3 percent, pointing to a firm start in the local market. The Morgan Stanley index of Asian stocks outside Japan <.MIAPJ0000PUS> was up 1.5 percent. * Dealers said they would watch out for dollar demand from oil refiners on the last day of the month, when demand tends to peak as importers need to make payments.

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